Top 10 incredible records Messi has broken at FC Barcelona

"The Ballon d'Or" is the most prestigious individual award in modern football, with players each year striving to display their utmost excellence in order to win this accolade. In 2009, something remarkable happened that had many holding their breath as the 22-year-old Argentine talent claimed his first Ballon d'Or. In 2010, Messi continued his triumphant streak, outshining his teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi by a narrow margin.

In 2011, Leo Messi secured his third Ballon d'Or, and no one could doubt the legitimacy of this trophy. He was indeed the best. He received 47% of the votes, leaving behind long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Xavi. 2012 marked the year Messi achieved his fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or. In 2015, when he once again garnered 41% of the votes, he triumphed over the older Ronaldo and the young Neymar.

La Liga has always been home to some of the best attacking players football has ever seen. Over the past decade, the Spanish top-flight has been the battleground for the fierce rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. In 2012, Lionel Messi broke the record for the most goals scored by an individual in a calendar year, with 91 goals. At the peak of his form, Messi could weave past defenders all day long, with Xavi and Andres Iniesta providing world-class service behind him.

At the age of 24, Messi became Barcelona's all-time top scorer, surpassing Cesar Rodriguez's record of 232 goals. His numbers from the 2011-12 season were extraordinary. In just 37 La Liga appearances, Messi scored 50 goals and made 20 assists, averaging nearly 2 goals per game. Across all competitions that season, he scored 73 goals and provided 34 assists in 60 appearances. Messi also won the Ballon d'Or that year, leaving his competitors far behind.

Messi is widely regarded as the greatest player to ever wear the Barcelona shirt. He has played 775 matches for Barcelona since making his debut in 2004, scoring 670 goals. Out of these 670 goals, 472 have been in La Liga, the highest number ever in the league's history. The Argentine forward has netted a total of 48 hat-tricks for Barcelona. He holds the record for the most La Liga hat-tricks (36). In the UEFA Champions League, Messi has matched Cristiano Ronaldo's record with 8 hat-tricks.

Messi broke Cristiano Ronaldo's La Liga hat-trick record of 34 with a stunning treble against Mallorca in December 2019. A further hat-trick against Eibar in February 2020 brought his total to 36. Messi's favorite opponents in La Liga include Valencia, Osasuna, Espanyol, and Deportivo, against whom he has scored hat-tricks on three separate occasions. He also netted three hat-tricks against Sevilla, including two in La Liga and one in the Spanish Super Cup, and three against Atletico, with two in La Liga and one in the Copa del Rey.

After scoring a brace against Alavés, the Argentine forward claimed his seventh Pichichi Trophy, marking his fourth consecutive win. His 25 goals from 33 matches meant that Karim Benzema of Real Madrid finished second in the ranking. This Pichichi trophy is historic, as Messi surpassed Telmo Zarra, who was tied for the most Pichichi titles. This was Messi’s fourth consecutive top scorer trophy, tying the record set by Mexican striker Hugo Sánchez.

Of his 25 goals, Leo Messi netted 19 at Camp Nou and 6 away from home. Among these, 5 were direct free kicks, showcasing his exceptional skill in set pieces. Besides being the league’s top scorer, Leo Messi also led in assists. With 21 assists this season, he once again set the standard for excellence. In fact, this season, which brought his seventh Pichichi trophy, was also the third consecutive season where Messi finished as both the top scorer and the top assist provider in La Liga.

Lionel Messi secured the European Golden Shoe for the sixth time, marking his third consecutive win. The Barcelona star, who claimed the award after a record fifth victory last season, finished the La Liga campaign with 36 goals, three more than second-place Kylian Mbappé, who scored once in PSG’s 1-3 loss to Reims.

The Argentine forward has now won this prestigious award across three unprecedented seasons. His six European Golden Shoes also set a new benchmark, moving him two points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo on the all-time list. During the 2018-19 season, Messi dominated the race for Europe’s top scorer for the majority of the campaign.

In the end, Messi surpassed Kylian Mbappé, who finished the season with 33 goals in Ligue 1 for Paris Saint-Germain. Messi's attempt to win his seventh Golden Shoe in the 2019-20 season was hampered by an injury sustained in the summer, which kept him out of the early matches of the season.

Lionel Messi broke one of his own Champions League records after scoring the opening goal for Paris Saint-Germain against Benfica. At 35 years old, Messi has now scored against 40 different teams in the Champions League - more than any other player. Previously, he had scored against 39, with that number also contributing to his tally earlier in this season. With 9 goals against Arsenal in North London, the PSG forward is one of the top scorers of the UEFA Champions League campaign.

With 126 goals, Messi stands second in all-time Champions League goal scorers. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has more, with 140. The next player on the list is Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona, who has scored 89 goals. Karim Benzema of Real Madrid has 86 goals. Messi also became the first player to score in 18 consecutive Champions League matches with his goal against Benfica.

An unstoppable Lionel Messi made history by becoming the first player to score 5 goals in a Champions League match, on this very day 9 years ago. Messi put the Bundesliga team on the back foot after completing his eighth hat-trick of the season (early in March!) with a series of exquisite curled shots and a goal that showcased his outstanding ball control. He then went on to score two more goals to break the record and become the first player to score five goals in a single UCL match. He remains the only player to have achieved this feat in a Champions League knockout game.

This was also during the time when Guardiola's Barcelona was soaring in reputation, and people were beginning to consider the Argentine genius not only the best player in the world, but potentially the greatest player of all time. The five goals in one night brought Messi within seven goals of Cesar Rodríguez's all-time Barcelona goal-scoring record at the time.

After graduating from La Masia, FC Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his professional debut in 2004 and has played for the Spanish giant for the past 17 years. He is Barcelona's most-capped player, appearing in 778 matches for the club. He is also the club's all-time top scorer with 672 goals to his name.

Messi has won every possible title with Barcelona, including 10 La Liga championships and 4 Champions League titles. He has completed two trebles in his career—during the 2009-10 and 2014-15 seasons. Along with his club honors, Messi has also collected numerous individual accolades over the years, including a record six Ballon d'Or awards. Messi has amassed a total of 45 trophies with Barcelona: 10 La Liga titles, 7 Copa del Rey titles, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 4 Champions League trophies, 4 UEFA Super Cups, and 3 FIFA Club World Cups.

The Argentine star holds all the major records in FC Barcelona's history. He has made the most appearances for the team, scored the most goals, and achieved the most victories. Most importantly, Messi has won more titles than any player in the club's 121-year history. Messi started breaking records and gaining attention shortly after joining La Masia. His heroic teammates helped him make his first-team debut almost immediately.

Messi has been the sharpest weapon for his club since his debut. Since his first-team debut in 2004, Messi has established himself as the player with the most appearances, the top scorer, and the most honored player at Barça, alongside numerous other records. In total, Messi has made 778 appearances for Barça, 21 more than the second-most capped player, Xavi Hernandez, and has scored a remarkable 672 goals across all competitions. Messi has also scored more goals than any other player in El Clásico, with 26 goals against their fierce rivals Real Madrid, and in the 2011/12 season, he set a European record of 73 goals for Barça.

The all-time top scorer of La Liga is Lionel Messi , with 474 goals, all of which he scored for Barcelona. He also holds the record for the most goals in a single season, with 50 goals in the 2011–12 season, and is the only player to have won the Pichichi Trophy in eight different seasons. Telmo Zarra of Athletic Bilbao, the previous all-time top scorer of the league until 2014, won the award six times.

The Argentine star achieved 474 goals in Spain's top leagues, 163 more than the current second-highest goal scorer in La Liga history, former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. However, in the Champions League, Messi trails Ronaldo, his main rival for the title of the world's best footballer over the past decade, who has scored 120 goals compared to Messi's 134.